Bolivia’s BMSC Mulls Cross-Border Expansion

Banco Mercantil Santa Cruz (BMSC), Bolivia’s biggest bank, says it is assessing the possibility of cross-border expansion, but that nothing is likely to be signed in the short term. “We’re going to continue investing in Bolivia and we might even explore some opportunities outside of Bolivia, but very very small and nothing that will ever jeopardize our Bolivia operation,” Darko Zuazo Batchelder, BMSC’s vice president, tells LatinFinance. “We’ve been offered a couple of things, one in Peru, one in Argentina,” he adds, saying that these offers of stakes in banks were rejected and that the idea of expansion is still at a very preliminary stage. “We’re looking for opportunities, but nothing has come up yet,” adds Alberto Valdes Andreatta, vice president of finance and international affairs at BMSC.